Volkswagen and Audi in major negotiations that could impact future of F1 team - report

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the Qatar sovereign wealth fund currently owns 17% of the Volkswagen Group shares and is locked in talks with VW and Audi to see how it could provide help to the German car brand's F1 project, currently set to join the grand prix in 2026. 

It is a topic of importance as QIA and the VW Group are currently negotiating for QIA to buy a larger percentage of VW shares. 

A possible financing or partial takeover of Audi's nascent F1 team could help tremendously given the difficult financial outlook the Ingolstadt-concern is experiencing, with thousands of job losses expected, according to reports.

If talks between the QIA, VW and Audi are successful, the sovereign wealth fund will assume control of a larger stake in the VW Group at a time talks have been held about the possibility of abandoning Audi's F1 project altogether. 

As part of the preparations for Audi's arrival in 2026, it is expected in early January 2025 to complete the acquisation of the Sauber Motorsport group, transferring full ownership to Audi. 

However, since the project was publicly announced at the 2022 Belgian Grand Prix, there have been, and continue to be suggestions of Audi looking to stop the project before a four-ringed car ever made it onto a grand prix grid.

QIA, Volkswagen Group, and the Audi F1 team

Given the strong relationships between the QIA and the VW Group, it is understood that Audi's F1 project is not in jeopardy and all three parties want to work together to get the project into a competitive state ahead of 2026.

Audi will be joining Honda and Red Bull Powertrains in (re)-entering F1 as a power unit supplier for the all-new technical regulations, with work on the 2026 power units featuring beefed-up electrical systems going well. 

With the global auto industry suffering from difficult financial times, there is some credence to the idea of a new F1 team partnering with an ambitious, strong partner - exactly what a sovereign wealth fund would provide, with the QIA said to account for some $475 billion USD (£367.7 billion GBP) in assets. 

QIA has owned shares in the VW Group for years, and is therefore considered ideal for a bigger partnership, with the possibility of QIA assuming majority ownership of Audi's F1 team in the future something that cannot be ruled out. 

More news is expected in the coming weeks and months from QIA over its plans for the Audi F1 team, with new project chief Mattia Binotto continuing to settle in as chief technical and chief operating officer of Sauber Motorsport.

Binotto recently made the decision to axe Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu for 2025, bringing in F2 title contender and Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto to partner the vastly experienced Nico Hulkenberg, who joins from Haas. 

In mid-2025, the team can also expect Jonathan Wheatley to join as team principal, having poached him from his long-time role as sporting director at Red Bull.